Migration and urbanization in China
Name：
LIANG Zai
Nationality：
Chinese (US permanent
residence)
Academic Title：Professor
Home University State University of New
（From）：
York at Albany
Email Address： zliang@albany.edu
English
Preferably a basic knowledge in sociology/demography, sufficient English to follow
and participate in class discussion
Lecture, class discussion, close reading of research articles/book chapters.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Attendance and class participation: 15%
Quizzes: 15%
Paper 1: 20%
Paper 2: 20%
Research proposal: 30%
2 credits
Zai Liang is Professor of Sociology and Director of Urban China Research Network
at State University of New York at Albany. He is currently also Kuan Yaming chair
Professor at Jilin University and previously taught at City University and New
York-Queens College and the Graduate Center. He received M.A. and Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago and conducted post-doctoral research at Brown
University. He is author and co-author of two edited books along with many
published articles. His main research areas are in internal and international
migration and urban sociology. He has received research grants from many foundations,
including the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Institutes of Health,
the Ford Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation. From
2008, with support from the Lingnan Foundation, he has been working with colleagues
from Sun Yat-sen University and universities in the U.S. and Canada to organize
workshops/conferences to train
China’s floating population represents the largest migration in human history and
has enormous consequences for China and the world. This course provides an
overview of recent scholarship (in English) on China’s floating population and its
implications for the future of urbanization. The course is multi-disciplinary and
includes perspectives from demographers, sociologists, economists, geographers,
and historians. The focus is on migration patterns in China since the late
1970s. We expect students can conduct independent research in this area after
taking this class.
1. Historical Perspectives
2. Theories of Migration
3. Development and Migration
4. Data Sources and Measurement Issues
5. Patterns of China’s Floating Population
6. Learning the Ropes: Migration and Adaptation in Cities
7. Migrant Housing
8. Impact of Migration on Children
9. Gender and Migration
10. Migration and Rural Transformation in China
11. Hukou Reform and Future Prospects
80 classic literature on migration and urbanization studies. will be introduced in
class.
Leslie T. Chang.2009. Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China. New
York: Spiegel and Grau.
Rachel Murphy. 2002.
University Press.
How Migrant Labor is Changing Rural China. Cambridge
Cindy Fan. 2008. China on the Move. Routlodge.